Original subtitles

YOUNG ROBIN: Is there something you're trying to tell us?

Something wasn't right in that house.

Something wasn't right in that house. I prayed it was another nightmare.

I prayed it was another nightmare.

It was a really, really bad idea.

It's like an only child's worst nightmare.

YOUNG ROBIN: I'm going to give you three seconds.

One, two--

[gasping]

YOUNG EVELYN: My mom's going to kill you.

[screaming]

Then I heard this--

RON: Maria?

Maria.

I knew I had to get out of that house.

[scary music]

ROBIN (VOICEOVER): When I was 15, my whole life changed.

I know you're upset.

I know you don't want to live here.

ROBIN (VOICEOVER): My mom died suddenly.

RON: Your stepmother is not that bad.

ROBIN: I was shipped off to live with my dad and his new family

over 1,000 miles away.

EVELYN: It's like an only child's worst nightmare.

My stepfather's 16-year-old daughter was moving in with us.

MARIA: Evelyn, Evelyn.

Come meet your step sister.

EVELYN: I wasn't happy, and I'm sure I didn't hide it.

Hi, I'm Evelyn.

ROBIN: I understood how Evelyn felt.

I wasn't exactly excited to be there either.

Evelyn, why don't you take Robin up

to show her her new room?

to show her her new room? Show her around just a little bit.

Show her around just a little bit.

ROBIN (VOICEOVER): I couldn't imagine

us having anything in common.

Fine.

See you in a little bit, sweetheart.

ROBIN: Maria was hardcore religious.

I counted five crosses and three angels

between the front door and my bedroom door.

So this is your room.

This is your bed, whatever.

This is your bed, whatever. Bathroom's down the hall.

Bathroom's down the hall.

ROBIN (VOICEOVER): Evelyn was a sweetheart compared

to her mother.

Mom is really clean and stuff, so

don't leave stuff laying around.

I have your bag here for you.

Just wanted to go over some rules.

Keep everything very clean around here.

Cleanliness is next to godliness.

ROBIN: My stepmother, she was a pretty nasty person

ROBIN: My stepmother, she was a pretty nasty person and a complete control freak.

and a complete control freak.

But it was her house, so it was her rules.

Is that from your mom?

Yep.

Let me know if you need anything.

I felt completely alone.

Maybe it was the emotions I was going through

at the time or the fact that I knew that nobody wanted me

there, the house had a strange feeling about it, a really deep

permanent sadness.

permanent sadness. You just felt it.

You just felt it.

Evelyn and I shared a bathroom.

Evelyn and I shared a bathroom. It was the first night I was there,

It was the first night I was there,

and we were getting ready for bed.

It looked like a drop of blood coming out of the faucet.

I can tell by the look on Evelyn's face

that this wasn't something normal that went on

in their house.

I think she somehow figured it was my fault.

MAN: Ladies and gentlemen, here it

is the big moment we've been waiting for.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is Robin's 16th birthday,

Ladies and gentlemen, it is Robin's 16th birthday, and the crowd goes wild.

and the crowd goes wild.

ROBIN: When my 16th birthday rolled around,

my dad tried really hard to make it special.

It's a pony.

No wait, it's just a birthday cake.

EVELYN: Robin was new in town, and she wasn't very social.

So she hadn't made any friends yet.

RON: Take some pictures--

So her party was just the four of us.

So her party was just the four of us. RON: Close your eyes.

RON: Close your eyes.

RON: Close your eyes. Make a big, big wish.

Make a big, big wish.

Make a big, big wish. ROBIN: What was I wishing for?

ROBIN: What was I wishing for?

That I had my mom back.

What's with the lights?

I don't know.

Keep going.

Try it again.

All right, big wish.

EVELYN: Every circuit in the house

EVELYN: Every circuit in the house blew at the exact same time.

blew at the exact same time.

The power's out.

EVELYN: Every light, every clock, and every appliance.

Somebody needs to go to the fuse box.

Somebody needs to go to the fuse box. Can we grab something--

Can we grab something--

I'll go.

All right, Evelyn.

Thank you.

I knew I couldn't find a flashlight in the dark house.

So I figured I'd just use my camera flash

to light my way to the fuse box outside the garage.

to light my way to the fuse box outside the garage. [camera flashing]

[camera flashing]

[gasping]

[gasping] I saw her for just a split second.

I saw her for just a split second.

It looked just like Robin, but it wasn't Robin.

It looked just like Robin, but it wasn't Robin. It sounds crazy now, but I--

It sounds crazy now, but I--

I know what I saw.

Robin?

Robin, where's Robin?

Stop yelling.

She comes back in the house screaming at me.

She comes back in the house screaming at me. Why-- why are you yelling?

Why-- why are you yelling?

I had no idea what she was talking about.

Who the hell do you think you are?

Why would you do that?

EVELYN: I knew it didn't make any sense.

I mean, how could she get inside so fast?

I saw the bathroom.

What are you talking about?

EVELYN: And her face was so different.

But at the time, I guess I just needed to blame someone

for whatever it was I saw.

I saw you.

I saw you. OK, show me proof then.

OK, show me proof then.

Look.

There's nothing there.

Nice try.

Dad, I'm not even there.

Dad, I'm not even there. EVELYN: How was this possible?

EVELYN: How was this possible?

I saw her.

I took a picture of her, whoever it was,

but there was no one there.

I swear to God, you were there.

Your face-- you had a mask on.

Thanks for ruining my birthday.

OK, I'm going to bed.

Robin, don't--

I can't stay here anymore.

That's great.

Thanks, Ev.

ROBIN: I just wanted a few minutes by myself.

So I thought I'll take a bath, and I'll go straight to bed.

And I just really wanted to pretend that I was alone

and make them all disappear for a moment.

I thought it was Evelyn screwing around with me.

Very funny, Evelyn.

Knock it off, you perv.

Knock it off, you perv. I'm going to give you three seconds.

I'm going to give you three seconds.

One, two--

ROBIN: Every time I grab for the side, I get pulled back under.

It was like a hand holding my head trying to keep me there

and holding me under the water.

[gasping]

What is your--

My mom's going to kill you.

EVELYN: Everything had exploded all over the mirror,

and I was wondering what the hell could do something

and I was wondering what the hell could do something like that?

like that?

My mom's going to kill you.

We were both really scared.

In a way, it sort of brought us together.

We just wanted to know what was going on.

ROBIN: So we did what any 16-year-old girls would do.

Evelyn called them the death dice.

EVELYN: I wrote yes and no on one, and then on the other,

I wrote things like illness and death and wealth and happiness.

I wrote things like illness and death and wealth and happiness. ROBIN: It was a really, really bad idea.

ROBIN: It was a really, really bad idea.

You sure?

Are there any spirits in the house?

Yes.

Is there something that you are trying to tell us?

Yes.

What are you trying to tell us?

You do it.

Death.

ROBIN: Six times in a row.

ROBIN: Six times in a row. I looked it up.

I looked it up.

I looked it up. The odds are 46,000 to one.

The odds are 46,000 to one.

Girls, what is going on?

What is all of this?

Robin.

Robin. Why are all my candles out?

Why are all my candles out?

What are those diced?

That says death on that.

That says death on that. Maria was freaking out.

Maria was freaking out.

I don't want this evil in my house, OK?

You know what--

Robin, just clean everything--

Maria.

Maria.

Maria. Robin, go call 9-1-1.

Robin, go call 9-1-1.

Robin, go call 9-1-1. Sit down. Maria, come here.

Sit down. Maria, come here.

Sit down.

EVELYN: At first, I thought she was just upset.

Then I realized it was serious.

And Robin just sat there, staring.

Robin, go call 9-1-1 now.

Go.

[coughing]

Are you OK?

Just breathe.

And breathe.

MARIA: This is exactly what I'm talking about, Ron.

I can't have her in this house anymore.

She has been nothing but trouble.

RON: You can't have her in this house anymore.

RON: You can't have her in this house anymore. What is that supposed to mean?

What is that supposed to mean?

[interposing voices]

ROBIN: Later that night, they must have thought I was asleep

upstairs.

What do you mean, evil?

I am scared for my life.

I am scared for my daughter's life.

I am scared for my daughter's life. Nothing is going right in this house

Nothing is going right in this house

since she has walked in the door, OK?

RON: Oh, please, you haven't gone right since the minute

we-- [interposing voices]

we-- [interposing voices] Stop shouting at me!

Stop shouting at me!

RON: You haven't liked anything that we've done ever

since we got home.

ROBIN: I'm looking through a crack in their bedroom door,

and I notice something on the floor.

It was the locket that my mother gave me.

And I'm thinking to myself, how did it get there?

And I'm thinking to myself, how did it get there? What are you doing?

What are you doing?

This is a private conversation.

I hated being there.

I just wanted to leave, but I had nowhere else to go.

EVELYN: After the choking incident, my-- my mom changed.

She got totally paranoid, and she stayed away from Robin.

[clattering]

I didn't see it myself.

My mom told me that story probably about 100 times.

She blamed Robin for stacking the stools,

but she wasn't even in the house at the time.

After that, she started putting those nanny cams

all over the house, videotaping everything that went on there.

ROBIN: Things quieted down for a little while.

One night, Evelyn and I stayed up late

watching some old movie.

I never felt a thing, but I used to get up

in the middle of the night and watch the tapes.

I thought deep down maybe I'm causing whatever's going on

and just wanted to know first.

I replayed that tape at least 20 times.

You can't imagine the terror when you see yourself

like that.

I mean, why was this happening to me?

I mean, why was this happening to me? Who was doing it?

Who was doing it?

Was I possessed?

I erased the tape, and I never told anyone.

You must be Robin.

ROBIN: I felt really helpless.

I waited till everybody left the house,

and I called a medium that I found in a phone book.

We're surrounded by the strong feminine.

Your mother is here.

ROBIN: I never told her my mother was dead.

My mother would never hurt me.

My mother would never hurt me. No, she doesn't want to harm me.

No, she doesn't want to harm me.

No, she doesn't want to harm me. She's here to protect you.

She's here to protect you.

Protect me from what?

This is not an outside spirit.

This is someone inside the house.

Have you ever heard of a poltergeist?

ROBIN: She told me that a poltergeist is

a destructive entity created by a living person,

and they usually don't even realize they're doing it.

It's like all your pent up energy

that form into this thing that can manipulate objects.

It can make people see things and even hurt or kill

another person.

It's drawn to you.

Am I not safe?

ROBIN: She told me that my mother had already

made her presence known as some kind of warning to whoever

was trying to hurt me.

And that's when I knew it was Maria.

We all went to bed late that night.

Maria and Dad were still fighting.

So he slept on the couch.

The house felt different.

I was terrified from what the medium had told me,

but she also said that my mother would find a way to protect me,

so I just needed to trust that.

It was really strange.

For the first time since my mother died,

I actually felt her presence around me.

And it sounds crazy, but I swear I smelled her perfume.

It was probably the best sleep I had since I got there.

[screaming]

Every day for years, my mom would tell me the story

of what happened that night.

of what happened that night. Evelyn, get in the car.

Evelyn, get in the car.

Why, Mom?

Why, Mom? Just get in the car.

Just get in the car.

[engine starting]

Eventually, it became all she would talk about.

You don't need to understand it right now.

Just stay quiet.

EVELYN: These days she forgets my name a lot

or that I'm her daughter, but she never

forgets a single detail of what happened that night.

EVA: When I was a baby, my American mother abandoned

EVA: When I was a baby, my American mother abandoned me and my Canadian father.

me and my Canadian father.

So I was raised by my father.

So I was raised by my father. I had a good life.

I had a good life.

But my father never spoke my mother's name.

He refused to tell me anything about her.

Then he died 10 years ago, and he left me knowing nothing

about my mother, not even how to find her, nothing.

Then about four years later, a lawyer from California

called me and told me my mother died.

So legally, I was her only living relative,

So legally, I was her only living relative, and the house was mine.

and the house was mine.

I didn't ask how she died.

I didn't care.

All my life, I try to imagine what my mother looked like,

what her house looked like, what clothes she would wear.

All those answers were somewhere inside this house.

I guess I was exhausted by the bus ride,

so I fell asleep for a little while,

and I had this dream I've had all my life.

My mother is in the backyard of her house, and she turns to me,

and she has no face.

After all these years, I finally had a chance

to see my mother's face.

I went through the entire house, every drawer, every shelf,

and I couldn't find a single photograph of her or of anybody

else.

She did have some cheap costume jewelry

that I thought I could wear and some clothes that I thought

might fit me.

[radio playing]

I told myself it was just an old stupid radio,

but I knew something wasn't right in that house.

Yeah, I know, but you were supposed to come over.

That's what you said.

Yes, yes, you did say that.

EVA: My boyfriend, David, lived in Montreal.

And we had been together for three years,

and we had planned to get married.

and we had planned to get married. Yeah, well, I'm still waiting.

Yeah, well, I'm still waiting.

EVA: He was going to meet me in California in a week.

Then we would decide whether to sell the house

or keep it and move in it permanently.

Well, it would be nice to have a little emotional support

sometimes.

We had spent lots of time apart.

But as soon as I got into that house,

But as soon as I got into that house, I became angry about everything.

I became angry about everything.

I just couldn't help myself.

I just couldn't help myself. We were on the phone arguing again.

We were on the phone arguing again.

Hold on.

I heard something.

EVA (VOICEOVER): And I swear there

EVA (VOICEOVER): And I swear there was something in the yard.

was something in the yard.

I think there's somebody here.

No, I'm not paranoid.

No, I'm not paranoid. Why do you assume I'm paranoid?

Why do you assume I'm paranoid?

Why do you assume I'm paranoid? [rustling]

[rustling]

[rustling] I'm just telling you.

I'm just telling you.

Yeah.

My heart was pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears.

Just get here.

EVA: I traveled all over the world,

but I had never felt this paranoid before.

It was like there was always someone standing behind me.

I had two glasses of wine to try to calm myself down,

and I checked all the locks again and again.

[gasps]

I felt like I was going to jump out of my own skin.

I was concentrating on trying to get the wine out when I glanced

up at the mirror.

up at the mirror. My eyes were black.

My eyes were black.

I thought I had just imagined it,

but I was terrified to open my eyes again.

They were fine.

I told myself that the wine was bad.

After a few days, things settle down a little,

and I started looking for a job.

[gasps]

There was definitely a face in the window.

When I went outside, there was no one there.

I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a bath.

It was the first time since I got here that I felt a little

like myself.

The tub was completely filled with blood.

[screaming]

I covered my face with a towel.

I was completely terrified to look.

But when I did, the water was clear again.

I convinced myself it was just a terrible nightmare.

I convinced myself it was just a terrible nightmare. I stopped taking baths after that.

I stopped taking baths after that.

Just get here.

My boyfriend wasn't supposed to arrive

until the end of the week.

I had become completely irrational.

I knew I was acting like a crazy person,

I knew I was acting like a crazy person, but I couldn't help myself.

but I couldn't help myself.

I was terrified of that house.

But for some strange reason, I was even more afraid to leave.

I just can't explain it.

Having fun wherever you are?

Because I'm going crazy.

It was like I was suddenly descending

into this dark bottomless hole for no reason.

[dog barking]

Shut up!

Shut up! I never felt anything like it.

I never felt anything like it.

[glass shattering]

[glass shattering] I was having these terrible thoughts

I was having these terrible thoughts

like I've never had before.

I remember thinking, so this is where insanity feels like.

I stared at the broken pieces of the bottle on the ground,

and I suddenly felt like I wanted to feel the jagged glass

in my hand.

I needed to feel it against my wrist.

Then a voice in my head said, do it, and it will all go away.

Do it.

Do it.

[gasping]

EVA: Making myself dropped a piece of glass

was the hardest thing I think I've ever done.

I had never had a suicidal thought in my life

I had never had a suicidal thought in my life until I moved into that house.

until I moved into that house.

I knew I had to get out of that house even for one night.

I didn't know where to go, maybe a hotel,

I didn't know where to go, maybe a hotel, but I forced myself to pack.

but I forced myself to pack.

And that's when I found this big duffel bag.

I could feel that it was cold inside.

I've seen friends die from drug overdoses,

except this time it was my face I was looking at.

I prayed it was another nightmare.

I prayed it was another nightmare. But I knew it wasn't.

But I knew it wasn't.

What was happening to me?

What was happening to me? Did I lose my mind?

Did I lose my mind?

Did I lose my mind? Was I already dead?

Was I already dead?

Then I felt a strange calmness come over me.

And then I heard this--

[gunshot]

It sounded like a gunshot from inside the bedroom.

There I was again, this time with a bullet hole in my head.

And that's when I thought I understood what was happening.

Someone or something was trying to drive me to kill myself.

And it never even occurred to me that whatever it was,

it was inside my house.

[cell phone ringing]

I stopped answering David's calls.

I knew he would worry, but I knew I sounded crazy,

and I hated myself for it.

For a moment, I thought about committing myself.

But how do you even do that?

Do you go to the hospital and say, I keep seeing myself dead?

Can I stay here?

Then I noticed something under the couch.

There was this folder.

It was from an insane asylum or something, October 12, 1979,

Sophie Jiron, my mother, multiple suicide attempts,

electroshock administered, requires constant supervision,

released to the care of Eleanor Wolf, her neighbor.

I knew that mental illness can run in families.

So did that explain what was happening to me?

Was my mother also normal one day and suicidal the next?

But one thing still didn't make sense to me.

I did not want to die.

I slept for three hours until someone

was knocking at the door.

One minute.

EVA: I looked down.

And I saw this photograph of me.

At least I thought it was me.

But I've never seen it before.

You look just like her.

I knew her.

I knew your mother.

EVA (VOICEOVER): It was Eleanor, my mother's caretaker

before she died.

before she died. You look exactly like her.

You look exactly like her.

She was a strange woman.

How did she die?

EVA: My mother cut her own throat.

ELEANOR: I only stepped out for a moment, just a moment.

EVA: That's when it all made sense to me.

EVA: That's when it all made sense to me. I wasn't seeing my suicide.

I wasn't seeing my suicide.

I was seeing my mother's, all her attempts to kill herself.

She was somehow stuck trying over and over

to end her life because my mother didn't know

she was already dead.

Eleanor went home, and I was still

trying to process everything she told me about my mother's

suicide.

I was relieved to know I wasn't crazy.

But what was really happening in that house

was almost more horrible.

I thought it might be Eleanor again.

So I went outside.

But there was no one I could see.

Hey, is someone here?

Whoever's in the backyard, I can hear you.

[screaming]

EVA: It was my mother hanging right in front of me.

My entire life, I hated my mother

for leaving me, but killing herself over and over

again was worse than any punishment

I could ever imagine.

I thought about just leaving the house,

but I was afraid of leaving her like this, reliving

her own suicide attempts forever.

I had to try to release her.

She was my mother.

Eleanor told me that people who commit suicide can be so

confused at their moment of death

that they might not know they're dead.

They sort of get stuck in what she called their death state.

They become locked to the same time and place, the same agony

sometimes forever.

Then she told me about something called mirror gazing.

Sophie.

Sophie.

It's your girl.

EVA: Some people believe that mirrors can be portals

between the worlds of the living and the dead,

and the living and the dead can communicate

through these passageways.

ELEANOR: Sophie.

Sophie.

EVA: I thought that if my mother could see me,

could see that we are two different people,

and could hear me say to her that she's dead,

then maybe she could move on to wherever she had to go.

We were just about to give up.

I was staring into the mirror hoping for some sign from her.

[glass shattering]

Glass flew across the room.

I couldn't move.

I thought all the bottles were going to shatter.

There she was.

I saw her for a split second.

Mom?

And she disappeared.

And then everything stopped, and it was completely quiet.

I'm not sure what we did, but I hope we released her

and that she's no longer in pain.

She's gone.

EVA: After that, the house was different.

It even smelled different.

That night, I dreamed of my mother again.

That night, I dreamed of my mother again. But it was a different dream.

But it was a different dream.

But it was a different dream. [music playing]

[music playing]